Far from feeling intimidated by protests, President Laura Chinchilla toured with complete tranquility and much happiness to several parts of Nicoya. During her visit, the head of state inaugurated her administration’s final projects in the canton.
Chinchilla Miranda began her tour the morning of March 27 at the Technical High School in Mansion de Nicoya, where she presented the facility’s new installations. The school had been damaged by the earthquake on September 5, 2012.
The chief executive then proceeded to La Anexion Hospital, where she took a tour with a party of hospital officials and engineers who are in charge of the construction of the hospital’s new Medical Tower, which is scheduled to be completed in 2016.
In addition, the president officially inaugurated the new pharmacy and archive areas and promised that construction would be finished on time. “We were able to review all of the plans in detail and I want to guarantee Nicoya that the financing is ready and the works have already begun so that the hospital will be ready in 2016,” she confirmed.
Afterwards, the presidential party went to the new Felipe Diaz Vidaurre Public Library for a formal opening ceremony. Minister of Culture Manuel Obregon, Guanacaste Congressman Antonio Aiza and the director of the National Library System, Olga Rodriguez, were present as well.
Marco Jimenez, municipal mayor, alluded to the library as, “The closest space to paradise, and it’s Nicoya’s paradise,” and added, “Laura Chinchilla’s administration stood up and said to Nicoya, ‘Here is the project you wanted.'”
Next, Aiza expressed feelings of pride for having belonged to Chinchilla’s government and was visibly emotional as he said, “I say goodbye today for having fulfilled (my promises) to my community.”
Finally, it was the president’s turn, who affirmed that she feels satisfied with the completed works and those in progress in the Colonial City. “We are satisfied because we have fulfilled (our promises) to Nicoya in some of the most important projects. Perhaps the most important legacy we’ll leave is the new hospital which has already started. We leave with the satisfaction of having accomplished that,” the chief executive said.
Asked about what grade she would give her government of the last four years, Chinchilla preferred to leave the question for Costa Ricans, but said that, “Guanacaste will remember me as a fighting woman and a fighting administration. Nicoya never abandoned me.”
The president briefly recalled her previous visits to Nicoya and tense moments due to protests during the last celebration of the annexation.
“Nicoya never abandoned me, even though those festivals on July 25 saw a groups of agitators trying to disrupt the event and ceremony; it wasn’t people from this area but rather people from outside, motivated by partisan political interests. We didn’t look back and we celebrated with a lot of energy and love,” she remembered.
She also mentioned previous differences with Mayor Marco Jimenez, who was opposed to receiving her in 2012 during the July 25 celebration, and assured that the disagreement had been left behind.
“We always had a plan from the start, and I want to say that if we became distant, it wasn’t our fault. I’m not one for fighting with people; it seems to me that he had other motives that now have no reason to be brought up. Here, what’s important is reaffirming the importance of teamwork and finish our administration in that way.”
The president concluded by saying, “What I want to tell you is that we never stopped fighting, I never stopped showing my face, responding to what was asked of me, many times for things that were even done by other people. I never sat back, I was a fighting woman and in my places we’ve left an important legacy.”
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